For the first time in 49 years Meghalaya has got a local indigenous person from the Jaintia community to hold the august office of State Chief Secretary.
Rebecca V Suchiang a 1989 batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre has made a mark for herself in reaching this goal. She is a role model for many young women aspirants to the civil services that hard work and a dedicated study schedule and the curiosity to keep abreast of national and international events are keys to a successful career in the IAS/IFS.
Suchiang’s father (L) Frankincense Suchiang was a distinguished officer of the Indian Forest Service while her husband Dinesh Sawkmie is from the Indian Revenue Services.
The Shillong Times caught up with Suchiang, a mother to three sons, Daniel who holds a Master’s degree from the Delhi School of Economics, David pursuing his Master’s Degree from NEHU and Disreali an under-graduate in St Anthony’s College, to explore her mind on issues concerning the state and her priorities as the State Chief Secretary.
The only other lady Chief Secretary of Meghalaya was PP Trivedi who held office from 1983-85.
ST: How does it feel to be the first local indigenous lady to hold this post?
RVS: I feel so blessed. To be the first Jaintia woman holding this post reaffirms my faith in this country and this state, that there is a place for every person to succeed no matter who they are, and where they come from.
While I may be the first indigenous woman in this post, I will definitely not be the last. I hope that everybody who reads this will see that there is a world of opportunities and positions, and that the sky is the limit.
ST: Why do we have so few women in the IAS cadre of Meghalaya?
RVS: It is not just a problem in Meghalaya but a problem in general. This year out of 761 successful candidates in the Civil Services Exam, 216 are women.
As far as Meghalaya is concerned, there has been a drought of local officers – both men and women – in the civil services. This may be because of a lack of motivation and awareness about the civil service exam, lack of local coaching centres, etc.
There is also a lack of opportunities for confidence building and exposure for aspirants. We are aware that there have been no successful candidates in the last 8 years.
Acknowledging this, the Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute (MATI) has initiated an intensive coaching programme for Civil Service aspirants. About 110 students were admitted this year, and a residential programme has also been initiated. We are very hopeful that this year, we may see some success.
ST: What are your priorities as Chief Secretary?
RVS: Improving Meghalaya’s ranking in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) through the upgradation of infrastructure. We are upgrading 200 Government Schools, and I will be personally monitoring the implementation of the project.
Improving Expenditure on Health, through a higher Budgetary allocation from next year’s Budget, to strengthen Human Capital.
To identify indicators which have displayed a drop in performance, so as to improve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) ranking of the State.
Setting up a mechanism to resolve issues involving slow implementation of important projects, especially those which have stalled.
Pushing the agenda for reforms to improve the viability of the Distribution and Generation Companies of MeECL.